Chapter One

Chapter One

The darkness seemed to be coming from every direction with amazing swiftness, and she could feel the life ebbing from her body as her blood drained freely from mortal wounds. She had the impression of footsteps coming towards her, but as she strained to listen, the sounds only seemed to grow fainter. Probably going away now that they see I'm as good as dead. The strong cold hands that lifted her upper body from the ground didn't register in her waning consciousness, nor did the owner's urging her to drink.

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The battlefield had been raging with the efforts to defeat Lord Voldemort. Hermione had been fighting near Ron and Harry when a Death Eater's curse had hit her. The dark-clad figure took advantage of her weakened state and continued to torture her-slowly despite the chaos surrounding them-then left her to die when she lost consciousness and was no longer interesting prey. She remembered wondering when she fell how her friends were faring and regretted never having the chance to say goodbye.

Witches and wizards had apparated to face each other on an expanse of ground in the West Country. That's when he first noticed her. Through much of school, he hadn't liked the pesky know-it-all. The blood prejudices that had been ingrained in him since infancy wouldn't allow it, but he did respect her amazing intellect and wit. Grudgingly, he also admitted that she had become quite beautiful by their final year, and she had only grown more so since their graduation three years past. When the fighting began, he lost track of her in the melee. The field, suddenly full of lethal rainbow lights, forced all the combatants to focus on the tasks at hand. Then, as he spun away from yet another stream of blue, he caught sight of a hooded figure leaving a witch to bleed to death as it raced off to rejoin the fray. Recognizing the bushy hair, and making short work of his own recent adversary, he sped to her side.

She was nearly gone and he knew he didn't have much time. Quickly slicing the base of his thumb, watching the contrast of scarlet on ivory, he forced her mouth open. "Come on, Granger," he growled. "Drink!" He didn't know why he was doing this; it was really baffling the longer he thought on it.

When he thought she might have had enough he removed his thumb and watched as it healed itself. Again making sure no one was paying any attention to him, and finding everyone keenly interested in staying alive, he picked her gently up and carried her to the forest behind them. Then he waited.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*

Hermione awoke quickly, feeling very odd. She saw trees above her, but didn't have much time to dwell on the change of scenery before her body began to jerk violently and her insides felt like they were curling up inside her. That Death Eater left me for dead. What is going on? Suddenly, the shaking stopped, and she felt her heart give one final pump and then die. Putting her hand to her chest, that was now absent of a heartbeat, and seeing that her body had healed, she knew there was only one explanation. "But how," she asked aloud.

"I would have thought you knew the answer to that by now. Weren't you the smartest in our class?"

A voice she recognized from the past came from the shadows, but all she saw in the dim light of the trees were two silver eyes staring back at her.

"Face me like a man, Malfoy!"

Draco came striding out of the darkness and sneered, "Technically, I'm no longer a man."

Temporarily at a loss for words, Hermione asked the only thing that came into her mind. "When did you become one?" Immediately realizing how rude her question was, she flushed as only a vampire can. The little amount of blood that he had let her drink traveled to the apples of her cheeks while the rest of her remained pale as death.

Draco smiled indulgently and she saw the flash of sharp teeth in his perfect mouth. "I was on one of Voldemort's crusades. A curse hit me from behind and I was left for dead, like you. As I was dying, I realized it was futile to try to survive when night was drawing near and the animals would come to me, even if I wasn't dead yet."

Hermione shuddered inside at his frankness.

"Then I heard something, but the woman who appeared came so quickly and silently that I never knew from which direction. I thought she was going to finish me off when I saw her flash her teeth at me, but instead she whispered, 'So pretty' and let me drink from her wrist. I knew what would happen to me if I did, but I also knew I didn't want to die there." He smiled wryly at the irony that he could cheat death forever in his new state.

"Her name was Morgana," he continued. "She hailed from Romania, nearly 400 years ago. She was 22 when she died, and I must say, the centuries have kept her in high form. She taught me what I needed to know, then left me two weeks later." Draco sat down on the forest floor next to Hermione with the air of a king, making her feel honored to be in his presence.

"I re-joined the Death Eaters, letting no one know of my present condition." Draco ran an aristocratic hand through his gorgeous white blond locks.

Hermione fully realized his beauty at that moment and saw that being a vampire had made him truly exquisite.

Shaking herself from her reverie she asked, "Why save me? I thought you would be glad to rid the world, and consequently yourself, of Mudblood Granger." Hermione studied him to see what kind of answer he would give her.

"You already know why, don't you...Hermione?"

She gaped at him. That was definitely not the answer she had expected, and then he had used her first name! She stared into his slate eyes finding desire burning in their depths.

"Yes," she said slowly. "I think I do." She leaned toward him. "How long have you wanted me?" Hermione ran her tongue seductively across her lower lip, teasingly. He's gorgeous; I do have to admit that any woman - dead or alive - would love to have him. And I'm one of them.

Running his long fingers through her thick, curly hair, enjoying the shivers it sent down her spine, he replied, "Since our last year at Hogwarts. You were Head Girl and I was Head Boy and working in constant proximity with you was hell." He sighed and looked her in the eyes, never wavering in his intent gaze. "I kept hoping you would give me the time of day long enough to see that I was interested."

Hermione snuggled closer to his side, inhaling his spicy, exotic scent and said, "I'm sorry, Draco, but I thought you loathed me so I just let you be."

He saw her pointed teeth as she smiled and suddenly realized why they were hiding in the forest.

"I'm sorry, kitten. You must be hungry."

Hermione looked startled by those words, but then grew used to the idea and began licking her lips in anticipation. "Yes, I am, Draco," she purred.

Standing up with all the dignity of a pureblood, he gave her his hand and pulled her gently to him. "Come then, we mustn't keep such beauty waiting."

Walking towards the edge of the forest, peering between the trees, they could see the sun was fading from the horizon and the War had ended. Voldemort's body was hanging from a tree not far from where they stood. Draco risked a glance at his arm; the Dark Mark was growing more faint by the moment.

The field was also eerily empty and fear quickly took hold of them. Draco pulled her back into the cover of the woods. "Someone may have seen me take you into the forest, thinking I meant to harm you. Go out there alone, tell your friends someone rescued you and managed to keep you hidden from Death Eaters in the final duration. You have no idea who it was that saved your life as you were too weak from your wounds to focus on his face. But make sure your overzealous friends know that your mysterious knight also had the foresight to bind your injuries, otherwise they'll gallivant across the United Kingdom to castrate the poor sod in a pathetic show for your honor." Draco shared a mutual chuckle with Hermione before he caressed her face one last time, kissed her forehead and was gone with a swish of his black cloak.

His lips left a tingling spot and the searing sensation of passion within her. Hermione smiled to herself, knowing without a doubt that he would return to her. He had saved her life and made her one with himself by sharing his vampiric blood.

Hermione could distinguish his blood from her own as it coursed through her veins. His was powerful. It seemed to dominate her at times. Innately, she knew there was an irrevocable connection between them. All she would have to do to make him come to her was call.

Hermione walked cautiously out of the forest as the light completely faded. Once out in the open field swathed in darkness, she moved with confidence through the sea of motionless bodies. Realizing she had crossed the length of shattered battlefield in mere seconds, she smiled wickedly. Vampires had superhuman strength and moved three times faster than humans. "This could definitely have advantages," she mused.

Even realizing her new powers, she felt vulnerable being out in the open in the unnaturally silent night. Suddenly, she saw people running through the field with wands lit, obviously searching the bodies for someone in particular. It seemed that no one on the ground was alive, and she thought with irony that she wouldn't be walking herself if Draco hadn't killed her with his blood only to have it revive her again. Hermione chuckled, causing a light to search for the noise and finally spot her. The wand carrier came running her way. She waited patiently for its bearer's arrival.

"Oh, my God, 'Mione!" Ron's familiar voice came to her in the darkness. "We all thought you were dead! I saw that brute knock you down, but then I lost sight of you in the fight, and afterwards we couldn't find you so Harry had us all out looking because he wouldn't give up hope. Oh, I'm so glad you're alive!"

Ron stopped to catch his breath and hug her tightly. When she didn't hug him back he noticed the amused expression on her face and took it for one of shell sock.

Immediately overwhelmed with concerned, he apologized. "I'm so sorry! What you must have gone through! I'll take you to the others, and we'll patch you up." He took her hand to lead her and exclaimed, "You're so cold! Here, take my cloak."

He draped it around her shoulders, and she shot a second amused glance behind his back as he led her to edge of the field.